Electric cable cover slitting tools



July 17, 1956 E. w. HILL ELECTRIC CABLE COVER SLITTING TooLs INVENTOR. ZV/NG* MLMP //Ll.

United States Patent 2,154,101 a ELEcrineoumrcovun summe 'mons ErvingWllardfHill, Bethlehem, Conn. Appiicafion septemberrs,"19ss,'sfii No. 381,102

4 claims. (ci. :I1-9.5)

This invention relates to insulated wires and cables, and more particularly to a tool for slitting the exterior sheathing of a cable preparatory to stripping said sheathing from the insulated wires located therewithin.

One object of the present invention is to provide a tool of the above nature having means for adjusting the length of wire to be stripped. I

A further object is to provide a tool of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eflicient and durable 1n use.

With these and other objects in view, there have been illustrated on the accompanying drawing two forms in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 represents a side view, partly in section, showing the slitting point of the tool in operating position extending through the outer sheathing of a cylindrical Romex type of cable.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the same, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of a modified form of cable slitting tool for use on an oval-shaped AZ cable.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same, taken along the broken line 4 4 of Fig. 3, and showing the use of the slitting tool for cutting through the casing on one side of an AZ cable.

Referring now to the drawing, in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral indicates a rigid cylindrical pipe having an angular handle 11 of strip material, soldered or otherwise secured to the exterior of said pipe.

The end of the pipe 10 opposite from the outwardly projecting portion of the handle 11 has an upstanding hollow interiorly threaded boss 12 for receiving a headed cable locking screw 13.

At a point slightly offset from the boss 12, provision is made in the bottom of the pipe 10 of a depending unthreaded hollow boss 14 which forms a loose guide for a sharp pointed inturned end 23 of a stripper rod 15 located alongside the pipe 10.

The stripper rod 15 is provided with an inner straight section 16 at one end which is located in contact with the outside of the pipe 10 (Fig. l).

The straight section 16 is provided with a short inwardly extending ilat extremity 17 passing through an aperture 18 in the bottom of the pipe 10 in contact with the end of the cable C located within the pipe 10 or the surface of the sheathing S thereof.

The straight section 16 of the rod 15 is provided on its outer surface with a notch 19 for receiving one of the turns of a coiled spring 20 embracing the pipe 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The stripper rod 15 is provided with an outwardly in :ital sety screw T25.

Operation In operation the sharp point 23 of the bent stripper rod 15 will be pushed by the users thumb inwardly through the sheath S against the cable C and locked in adjusted position by the set screw 25. The sheath S of the cable C will then be grasped in one hand and pulled through the pipe 10 while holding the handle 11 with the other hand. It will be understood that the sheathed cable C will previously have been inserted in the pipe 10 until its end engages the inturned end 17 of the rod 15.

By means of this construction the sheathing S on the exterior of the cable C may be slit, permitting it to be thereafter easily stripped from the interior plastic insulating ller P and the pair of insulating wires W embedded therein (Fig. 2).

It will be understood that the end 22 of the rod 15 may be swung downwardly out of the boss 14, whenever it is desired to resharpen the point 23.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the same pipe 10, and stripper rod 15 may be used, as in the rst form of the invention shown in Figs. l and 2.

In the modified form of the invention however, a set screw 13 mounted in an internally threaded boss 12 will be used for engaging an oval shaped adapter sleeve 30 having opposed curved sides 31 and 32 with an edge slot 33 1ocated therebetween.

This modied type of tool is adapted for cutting an end slit in an oval cable of the AZ type, indicated by the numeral 34 and containing a pair of insulated wires 35, 36 surrounded by an oval flexible unsheathed plastic insulating casing 37.

In the use of this second form of tool, one of the side edges of the oval cable 34 will irst be slit using the point 23 of the stripper rod, and the cable 34 will then be reversed and the opposite side edge thereof will be slit in the same manner.

While there have been disclosed in this specication two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are to be shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified and embodied in various other forms, without departing from its spirit. ln short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

l. In a tool for slitting the exterior sheath of a cable containing a plurality of insulated wires preparatory to stripping said sheath therefrom, a rigid pipe having an opening on one side and an exterior handle on the opposite side thereof, a slitter rod attached to said pipe, one end of said rod lying in at engagement with said pipe and the other end of said rod being offset from said pipe and provided with an inturned sharp slitting point on the extremity thereof extending through said opening, a point guiding boss secured to said pipe surrounding said opening, and a collar having a set screw thereon for engaging said inturned end to limit the inward penetration of said point into the cable.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which an oval shaped slotted adapter is located within said pipe for f1tting around an oval shaped cable to hold the side edge of said cable in alignment with the sharp point of said slitter rod which projects through the slot therein.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which a radial set screw is mounted in the opposite side of said pipe from said slitting point and extends through an end opening therein to slidingly engage said cable in operating position.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which the end of said rod which lies in flat engagement with said pipe is flexible outwardly and has an inturned extremity passing through the opening in said pipe, said pipe to engage said cable.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,801,706 Westfall' Apr. 21, 1931 10 2,275,367 Rybolt Mar. 10, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 460,344 Canada oct. 1s, 1949 

